Current therapies treat symptoms of the autoimmune diseases multiple sclerosis (MS) but there is no cure. Thus, there is a need for improved treatments. An approach to treating autoimmune disorders such as MS and cancer involves the use of cell therapy to alter autoimmune activity of T cells. Under certain conditions manipulated B cells may exert a persistent suppressive effect by provoking the secretion of suppressive factors in the host. Rafei et al., report that a granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-15 (IL-15) fusokine (GIFT15) induces a regulatory B cell population with immune suppressive properties. Nature Medicine, 2009, 15, 1038-1045. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,947,265; 8,647,866; 8,586,055; 8,383,775; 8,013,124; EP 2550359, Grabstein et al., Cloning of a T cell growth factor that interacts with the beta chain of the interleukin-2 receptor, Science, 1994 264 (5161), 965-968; Tagaya et al., Generation of secretable and nonsecretable interleukin 15 isoforms through alternate usage of signal peptides, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 1997, 94 (26), 14444-14449.
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References cited herein are not an admission of prior art.